Shotokanplanet.org

This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Kata from the top down

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There are times when you go to Karate class and find out how hard you can push yourself and today was one of those days.  Today we did kata along with a drill using a the sukui uke from Bassai Dai.

Kata from highest to lowest

Sensei Noia had us start class with kata.  He had us begin with the highest level kata that we know and then work our way down to the lowest level kata.  For the Shodans and above, this meant doing 18 or more different katas for two of us.  For the lower Kyu ranks and other Shodan’s it meant doing all the katas they knew and continuing to do them over and over until the other Shodan’s were finished.  I was able to remember 18 katas and do all of them in under 25 minutes.  It was hard work but it also felt awesome being able to do all of those katas at one time.  I am not sure how they looked but they felt really good.

Hit hard but loose, with your forearm

We spent the rest of the class working on a drills from a technique in Bassai Dai called sukui uke.  The is the technique near the end of the kata where your hand starts high up, your twist your hips and drop your arm, striking with your forearm.  I believe the English translation is scooping block.  In the video below, it’s the technique at 1:23.

We started with our partner holding a focus mitt and we raised our hand above our head, dropping our arm and striking the focus mitt with the inside of our forearm.  The idea of this drill was to let gravity create the power and not muscle through the technique.   This is powerful movement if applied to certain targets like the neck which I explain more about later.

For the next drill, we worked on half of the movement without the scooping action at the end.  The idea was to let the arm fall across the body with what I can only describe as a whipping action.  The action of the arm falling and hips turning the body makes it fast and strong.  We then did the same drill again adding the scoop at the end of the technique.  I lost count but we did a lot these.

The last drill was with our partner again.  This time, our partner attacked with a right fist forward punch or wide hay-maker punch, we stepped in with a U punch, blocking and grabbing our partners punching hand with our top, left hand and then pulling them down by their arm and striking them with the inside of our right, inside forearm.  From there, this action allows your to throw your partner to the floor very easily by using your hip action and their neck.

The movements that we do in various katas can have many different applications and while I was taught that this technique from Bassai Dai was catching an attackers kick, scooping it up and throwing it away, the drill we worked on above brings a different, more serious, meaning to the same technique.

This proves that you cannot be close minded when looking for applications of the techniques in the katas you know.  What looks like a simple technique might actually be something totally different.

Class summary

  • Start with the most advanced kata you know and work your way down
  • Sukui uke, loose but strong
  • Kata techniques can have many different applications if we open out mind to them

Kata warm up, hitting stuff and more

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I was disappointed that I had to miss class last week but today’s class made up for it.  Since exams are over, there is a little less kihon and more hitting of pads and people.

Kata as a warm up

Sensei Noia has us start class with the Kyu rank katas as a warm up every so often.  Today was Heian 1 through Heian 5 along with Tekki Shodan.  After completing all six katas, he had us do all the katas in mirror image.

I find a lot of value doing the katas in mirror image.  I feel that it helps develop the other side of the body and I think we should, as Karate students, do it more often to make our training more complete.  Most of the moves flow well when doing them in mirror image but the toughest for me is doing the crescent kick with the left leg instead of the right leg.  We don’t do crescent kicks with the left leg too often and I noticed a big, not positive, difference in mobility and power doing the kick with my left leg.

Hit stuff hard

After the warm up, we found a partner and had them hold some foam pads for some striking drills.  Sensei had us start with closed hand drills which consisted of punches, hammer fists and back fists.  We followed those with open hand drills using knife hand, ridge hand and back hand strikes.  After that came elbow strikes to the front using the strike with our arm parallel to the ground along with strikes from our draw hand elbow.  Next came basic knee strikes with us grabbing the shoulder of our partner and pulling them down while striking them with our knee.

We haven’t hid the pads for a while and it felt good to get some stress from the work day out on the pads.

More kata

To finish up class, Sensei had us pick a kata of our choice.  After doing the kata, we went back to out partner an took one or a small group of techniques from the kata and used them against our partner who was attacking with the attack of our choice.  I always enjoy working on kata application with a partner because it adds another dimension to my training.  We did one more kata of our choice and bowed out.

Class summary:

  • Kata warm up, both normal and mirror image
  • Hit the pads with closed and open hands, elbows and knees
  • More kata with application of one or a small group of techniques

 

Pad drills even work with kata

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This week, the dojo was warmer but Sensei Noia gave us a good warm up anyway. We started jogging back and forth 6 times across the dojo. Next, we did lunges forward to the middle of the dojo and then turned 180 degrees and did the lunges backward to the other end. We did knees up to our hands halfway across the dojo and then inside out leg circles. We finished the warm doing stationary leg raises to the front, side and back 10 times.

Triple kick time

Now that we were warm, we did a front snap kick to front, side thrust to side and back kick to rear then stepped forward, then did the same three kicks with the same leg and then we stepped backward.  Lots of kicks in a small amount space.

Partner drills

For the next drill, we found a partner. One person stepped forward with a Jodan punch and the other partner stepped back and did a rising block with a chudan reverse punch and front punch and then repeat the same with the other partner.

The next drill was similar except the one partner did a chudan punch and the other partner does an outward block with the same reverse punch and front punch.

For the last drill like these, one partner does two chudan punches and the other partner does an outward block and a reverse outward block from the kata Bassai Dai.

Kata pad drills

For the next drills, we stayed with our partner but one of us got a pad. One partner held the pad and the other partner had a choice of moves. The choices were the following:

The first move from Bassai Dai
The cross leg, block strike move from Empi
The second from the last move in Gojushiho Sho with the double edge hand strike

All of these techniques were executed in a cross leg stance which is one stance that we don’t often hit things while doing it.  This was a good test of making sure that the hips and legs were in the correct position otherwise your attack is weak and you end up bouncing back off your partner.

After the pad drills, we finished class with four katas of our choice.